Anthony Davis is a stud in the NBA. Its next rising star. Everyone sees this.
Everyone sees his soaring blocks and monstrous numbers. His dynamic offensive game that is a mix of speed, size and power with finesse around the rim and an underrated, improving jumper.
This is a dominant player in the making that everyone in the NBA will be worry about for the next decade. That goes for both the offensive end and the defensive end.
Davis’ shot-blocking prowess — he led the league with 2.8 blocks per game last year and has an astounding 3.9 blocks per game this year, entering Saturday’s game — would seem to suggest that defense is not an issue. Throw in offseason acquisition Omer Asik, and the Pelicans appear to have a shot-blocking force on the interior (the long-armed Alexis Ajinca is seeing time now too with Asik out with an injury).
Monday night’s game in Portland showed plenty of cracks in the young roster on the defensive end though. The Pelicans lost a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter and allowed the Blazers to run past them with Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge helping establish that inside-out attack. One of the key plays in that stretch was Robin Lopez posting up and beating Anthony Davis, using his sheer size and weight to make the key bucket. New Orleans could not answer with shots of its own and the reeling continued.
The Pelicans interior defense has been strong, but it gets inconsistent with Anthony Davis out of the lineup. Photo by Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Tuesday night in Sacramento, the Pelicans had to erase a double-digit deficit and gave up 17 offensive rebounds to the Kings, failing to finish defensive possessions. With Davis out of the lineup, the team really struggled defensively. Wins are wins though.
Youth certainly plays a role in some of New Orleans’ struggles on the defensive end. But the numbers continue to suggest this is not the strongest defensive team despite Davis’ ever-presence.
So far this season (all stats entering Saturday’s game), the Pelicans are currently 21st in the league in defensive rating, giving up 105.2 points per 100 possessions. Teams are posting a 50.6 percent effective field goal percentage against New Orleans.
With Davis in the game, the Pelicans post a 104.3 defensive rating. But with him out of the game, it drops to 108.1 — and the offense plummets to 92.4 points per 100 possessions.
Davis is obviously a pretty big fulcrum for this team. The defensive statistics look less stellar for the guards, and that is where the Pelicans’ defensive issues truly emanate.
Centers Alexis Ajinca and Omer Asik are the only other rotation players with a defensive rating better than 105 while on the floor. The Pelicans give up 109.1 points per 100 possessions when Asik is off the floor.
Clearly the Pelicans need their rim protectors on the floor to have any type of defensive presence. And even then, it seems the defense needs some work.
Anthony Davis is not going to score 40 points every game and make defense a moot point. If the Pelicans want to make the Playoffs, they need to improve on this end of the floor.
And that improvement appears like it needs to come from the perimeter. Opponents are shooting 45.6 percent from the floor against the Pelicans and 34.2 percent from beyond the arc. Teams are getting 27 free throw attempts per game on the Pelicans.
The early numbers suggest there is potential for this team to improve on the defensive end. Having Davis and Asik as a back stop will definitely make it easier to continue the improvement. For the Pelicans to make this hot start last, however, the guards will have to pick up their slack and the Pelicans will have to continue their improvement.
With Davis playing at an other worldly level, the opportunity is there for the Pelicans to keep up the improvement.
